AMES, Iowa -- Health-conscious consumers who want to reduce their
risk of heart disease can now purchase the first low-saturated-fat
soybean oil that can substitute for traditional vegetable oil
without changing the taste of the food.

LoSatSoy, a new product from Midwest farmers developed from research
at Iowa State University, is hitting the shelves at Hy-Vee food
stores in a seven-state area.

LoSatSoy has only one gram of saturated fat per serving, half the
amount found in traditional soybean oil and the same amount found in
canola oil.

The new oil comes from low-saturated-fat soybeans developed by Iowa
State University's Walter Fehr, professor of agronomy, and Earl
Hammond, professor of food science and human nutrition, using
traditional plant breeding methods.

Before LoSatSoy became available, consumers interested in vegetable
oil with reduced saturated fat relied on canola oil. Despite its
nutritional value, some consumers complained that the foods prepared
with canola did not have the same flavor and as those prepared with
soybean oil, the most widely used vegetable oil in the United
States.

"The good news for consumers is that LoSatSoy has the same amount of
saturated fat as canola and does not alter the flavor of the food,"
Fehr said.

LoSatSoy received a boost from new research published by the Harvard
School of Public Health in the Nov. 20 edition of the New England
Journal of Medicine. In a study involving 80,082 women age 34 to 59,
Dr. Frank Hu and his colleagues found that the risk of heart disease
was reduced by lowering the saturated fat in oil and increasing the
polyunsaturated fatty acids. LoSatSoy is as low in saturated fat as
canola and contains more than twice as many polyunsaturated fatty
acids, Fehr said.

Hy-Vee test-marketed LoSatSoy this fall in its Cedar Rapids-area
stores.

"We had excellent results with the test market of LoSatSoy in our
store in September," said Matt Tippie, manager of a Hy-Vee store in
Cedar Rapids. "Our initial sales were strong and are continuing to
grow."

Consumer acceptance of LoSatSoy is good for Midwest farmers who grow
the specialty soybeans. Most of the canola consumed in the U.S. is
imported from Canada.

"We are very pleased with the positive image of soybeans in the
health community," said Steve Lorimor, a southwest Iowa soybean
farmer and chair of the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board. "LoSatSoy is a
product with positive health benefits that Midwest farmers can
profitably produce for consumers."

LoSatSoy is a trademark of the Iowa State University Research
Foundation Inc.